Comments on: Cultural Tensions Between Conservatives and Progressives is a Feature Not a Bug http://www.thelibertypapers.org/2011/07/15/cultural-tensions-between-conservatives-and-progressives-is-a-feature-not-a-bug/ Life. Liberty. Property. Defending individual freedom and liberty, one post at a time. Wed, 22 May 2013 18:26:11 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: tkc http://www.thelibertypapers.org/2011/07/15/cultural-tensions-between-conservatives-and-progressives-is-a-feature-not-a-bug/#comment-77741 tkc Fri, 15 Jul 2011 21:52:46 +0000 http://www.thelibertypapers.org/?p=9461#comment-77741 “The usual terminology of political language is stupid. What is “left” and what is “right”? Why should Hitler be “right” and Stalin, his temporary friend, be “left”? Who is “reactionary” and who is “progressive”? Reaction against an unwise policy is not to be condemned. And progress towards chaos is not to be commended. Nothing should find acceptance just because it is new, radical, and fashionable. “Orthodoxy” is not an evil if the doctrine on which the “orthodox” stand is sound. Who is anti-labor, those who want to lower labor to the Russian level, or those who want for labor the capitalistic standard of the United States? Who is “nationalist,” those who want to bring their nation under the heel of the Nazis, or those who want to preserve its independence?

What would have happened to Western civilization if its peoples had always shown such liking for the “new”? Suppose they had welcomed as “the wave of the future” Attila and his Huns, the creed of Mohammed, or the Tartars? They, too, were totalitarian and had military successes to their credit which made the weak hesitate and ready to capitulate. What mankind needs today is liberation from the rule of nonsensical slogans and a return to sound reasoning.” Ludwig von Mises

I would also question the idea of a ‘libertarian utopia’ as I don’t believe there is such a thing. Especially not in a country of 300 million people. Your liberty is what you make of it and there is no guarantee of success. There is no utopia, period. I find that those that do argue in favor of a utopia of one sort of another are actually arguing for what makes them happy and forcing others along for the ride.

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